Bye bye L.I. Hello Atlanta.

July 14, 2014

It's been 3 and a half momentous years since I posted on this blog. So many changes, so many rivers crossed. Lots of friends begged me to revisit Voted Off the Island, but I simply didn't have the heart. It was as if I'd run out of adjectives.

Truthfully, it was Twitter that killed Voted Off the Island. Once I got hooked on 140 characters it was hard to write long. Facebook was another killer -- fb'ing for work dried me up, made me sick, actually, of oversharing and overexposing myself for all the world to see.

But here I am putting a little toe back in, in a very trendy shade of brownish purple. I read a few old blog posts recently and felt nostalgic. Miraculously, I wanted to start writing again, and so here I am.

February 10, 2011

First Lady Michelle Obama was in Atlanta yesterday to talk about Let's Move! her initiative to restore healthy food choices for school meals and to inspire American families to fight childhood obesity.

Her speech at North Point Community Church (Andy Stanley's congregation) was terrific. Read it and remember the days when you could really BE a free range kid who stayed outdoors until called home for dinner.

And she quoted my friend Aaron Mark, proud dad of Murray!

Aaron Marks, a father from Decatur, Georgia, wasn't happy when he found out that his four year-old son was eating pizza for breakfast at school...and donuts and cookies for snacks. So he talked to the school administrators. He joined the school's nutrition committee. And he helped raise money to plant a garden. As he put it: "You just can't take no for an answer. You have to be tenacious." So it's never easy.

December 15, 2010

Certain traumas have a grip on me. Ghastly crimes perpetrated by "ordinary" demons seem to command my attention. The Unabomber, Son of Sam and Bernie Madoff come to mind. So it was riveting to read this dialogue between Gail Collins and David Brooks today on the Greek tragedy being played out by Mark Madoff's suicide:

David Brooks: The second death I wanted to mention is Mark Madoff’s. Here, I confess I have mixed feelings. Of course one feels terrible for the suicide victim himself. I find it possible to believe he didn’t know about his father’s schemes. He did turn the old guy in, after all. Moreover, he left a 2-year-old in the next room, which suggests a seriously deranged state of mind.

Gail Collins: The 2-year-old in the next room part was where he lost me. What kind of person leaves a suicide note saying, in effect, “I love you and oh, somebody better check on the kid.”

David Brooks: And yet am a I rotten person for thinking some proper retribution has been inflicted upon the old man?

David Brooks:Bernie Madoff endangered his family and his friendships for money. He inflicted untold pain on thousands of people. Somehow there is cruel justice in the fact that the shocks of his crimes should reverberate back on him in this way. He has to live with the knowledge that he caused his son’s death.

Gail Collins: O.K., I can see where you’re going now — back to the Greeks, right?

The suicide of Mark Madoff is like a Greek tragedy where the pain would course through families, and the sons would pay for the sins of their fathers.

David Brooks: Yes, this too is Greek, because in those old tragedies, pain would course through families; and the sons, as the unavoidable saying goes, would pay for the sins of their fathers. Those old plays presumed that the universe is essentially just, and that there are moral laws and filaments so that evil eventually leads to evil.

Gail Collins: It sounded very profound when Sophocles wrote about it. But I have the terrible feeling that in our era, it’s been boiled down to “Everything happens for a reason.” I would love to see a statistic on how many times people in reality show competitions say that. Is it really possible to believe there’s a cosmic purpose behind getting kicked off the island in “Survivor”?

David Brooks: I’m not so sure we can be so confident of that. But crimes do tend to impose rippling waves of pain.

November 17, 2010

October 26, 2010

Boughetto. Fabulous word. Hilarious word. Bougie + Ghetto = Boughetto. Heard it from Kandi, one of the Atlanta Housewives, describing Phaedra's over-the-top baby shower. Figured Kandi made it up, and laughed my head off. What the hell do I know.

Nothing, apparently, because "Bughetto" is not only part of the language, it's a rap song from the album Heavy Starch featuring Murphy Lee.

Hilary Thayer Hamann: Anthropology of an American Girl: A NovelWell, I finished it. And I liked it alot. But then, I love books about bourgeois life where nothing much happens. The writing is sharp and evocative. The story is, I dunno, familiar? Most interesting is the story of how this book went from a self-published effort to a mainstream book. Kudos to HTH.

What I'm Cooking

Cheap Ceviche

This is almost a mock ceviche because it's made with junk fish (tilapia) and surimi, the tofu of fish. However, with the right amounts of lime juice, cilantro, onion and hot sauce, even cheap fish makes a fabulous ceviche. I chopped up a 1/2 pound of tilapia and combined it with 2 packages of chunked surimi. Marinate in juice of 5 limes, 1/2 red onion chopped fine, and one head of cilantro chopped fine. Add a healthy squirt of Sriracha sauce and refrigerate.

Just outstanding on everything. Take a container of Greek style yogurt (no-fat, low -fat, doesn't matter). Grate 2-3 thin skinned middle eastern cukes on a box grater and squeeze out all the water. Mince 3 cloves of garlic VERY fine. Stir cucumber and garlic into yogurt, add a splash of olive oil and a grind of black pepper. Dunk in vegetable of your choice, slather on spanakopitas, etc.

Polenta

Apparently the par-boiled polenta I'm using is considered ca-ca by serious cooks. I've found it to be utterly delicious, especially smothered with sauteed portobello mushrooms. I will give plain old yellow cornmeal polenta a try after Thanksgiving.

Hangar Steak

Grilled in a cast iron pan in the oven, on broil. Remarkably tender and so quick. Salt, pepper and smoked paprika for seasoning.

Brussels Sprouts + Corn

A smashing combination -- the bitter tang of the Brussels Sprouts with the sweetness of corn. Saute with olive oil, salt and pepper. C'est tout!

Stuffed Cabbage

My favorite recipe From the NY Times Jewish Cookbook, made with fresh cranberries and canned cranberry sauce. Total yum.